"Mother-!" Her triumphant smirk made your eye twitch.
"It's general hospitality, a welcome to the neighborhood." It was your turn to be exasperated as you watched her stand and brush the dust from her skirt. Her gentle smile was infuriating. "He was delighted, admitted to having not had time to even think of what they would eat tonight. I told him you would be more than eager to welcome him into your home." You were on your feet now too, grabbing at her arm as she turned to go inside.
"You could have run this by me!"
"Oh, if you're so flustered over it, go invite Deontae over as well. I do believe Ambrose has the twins this week, I'm sure he'd love the company."
"I AM NOT FLUSTERED!" Your hand was batted off before she shooed you off to go across the street.
"Go on, I have the children under control. Go fetch your best friend, sweetheart." No words could've fully expressed your fury, and all you could do to not explode was take a deep breath, and exhale.
Deep breath, count to five. Slow exhale, continue to ten. Repeat. You were at forty and at your best friend's steps by the time you could even force down an aggravated scream, your foot tapping impatiently as you knocked, then crossed your arms. You were at sixty when you could truly say you were calm, and his door was pulled open.
"Deontae, what took you-" Your words caught in your throat as you realized there was merely a towel covering his waist, and nothing more.
"Hey, Car."
"DEO OH MY GOD-" You turned your face away, a hand moving up to block him from your vision. You barely caught a glance of his eye roll as you felt your cheeks light up as if a fire had been started.
"Oh, come on, you've theen me in lethth." You glanced over, then quickly looked away again. "Touched me in lethth~" You hated that you could hear the grin in his voice.
"Go, go put on your pants, you jack rabbit-"
"You could jack thith rabbit-" That made you whirl to him and shove him back inside. You ignored his yelp as he hit the ground, letting yourself in and closing the door behind you.
"You, you are INCONCEIVABLE-"
"Ooh, big wordth that I probably can't thay right. Becauthe of my lithp."
"Ugh, I don't know how I ever dealt with you." You looked down at him, arms crossing, foot tapping again and purposely keeping your eyes on his face as his eyes more than obviously traveled lower on yourself. "Eh hem." His eyes finally met yours, only after lingering below your belt for more than a few seconds. "Why did you answer your door, in a towel?"
"Becauthe you have a very dithtinct knock and I jutht got out of the thhower." You had taken notice of the water droplets still running down his hair. "I would have put on pantth if it wath any knock but yourth." You sighed heavily, moving to pace back and forth as he sat up, crossing his legs. "What'th wrong, Car?"
"Someone's finally moving into Evianna's old place." You cringed at her name. He raised a brow at you.
"Yeah, I notithed. And?"
"My mother decided to invite him over for dinner, behind my back. Because we're both 'single fathers'." You had to finger quote at the absurdity.
"Ooooh. Thhe's thtill thtuck on you dating again, ithn't thhe?"
"She won't take the fucking hint!" You stopped in your pacing to take a deep breath, then paused at his uncharacteristic silence, looking down at him.
"....."
".... You can't be-"
"I'm invited too, right-" You threw up your hands, whirling back to the door.
"If you put on your pants and a shirt, yes, yes you are invited."
"Yaaaaaaaaaay-" You were already out his door and closing it behind you, letting out a breath before shaking your head. You couldn't stop the smile from creeping into your features, a chuckle leaving you.
You didn't know what you would do without him, walking down his steps and back towards the street, looking up as a vehicle pulled into the house next door to yours.
You stopped in your tracks, your smile immediately fading as your eyes scanned that, that violet Porsche that had plagued you merely hours ago. You slowly made your way back across the street as the front door opened, and Elias ran over to crawl in before the driver had even had a chance to step out. You barely noticed the smug look on your mother's face as you stepped back into your yard, your hand moving into the hair of your eldest as he was back on your leg, Kayden huffing about something over where they'd left him with the toys.
"Mmph, lad. Missed me that much, did ya?" You tensed at the almost gruff voice, an accent you couldn't quite place. Then the man got out, Elias in one of his arms as he did, smiling and nuzzling at the little boy, who clung to him. You felt your stomach churn with a feeling you couldn't quite place as his deep blue, almost violet eyes swept over your mother with a smile before they found you. "I can't thank ya enough fer..." He trailed off when they did find you, and it only made you tense more. "Well, you must be the neighbor I haven' had the chance ta meet." A strange wave-like sound to his words, you'd eventually have to question it.
"I am, indeed." Of course you were going to be on the defense, ignoring the look your mother cast at you as your arms crossed over your chest, an irk visible in your features. "Orpheus, right? Lovely vehicle, if only it understood the meaning of a red light, hm?" Yes, yes you were still salty. His look of confusion was amusing, and the moment his eyes found your bug and it clicked, was absolutely priceless.
"Oh." His eyes found you again, and he held up his free hand defensively. "Well, for what it counts, I'm sorry about that." An apologetic smile. "When ya have a three-year-old needin' the bathroom, kinda makes ya impatient." You blinked, your shoulders relaxing a bit. "Forgot ta pack him some spare trainers, ya know?" A nod towards Kayden. The tension in your shoulders was completely gone now as you did look over at Kayden, who was now confirmed the same age as Elias was. You could only sigh, rubbing at the back of your neck.
"Yes, I, I suppose I can understand that. I apologize for being irate without understanding the reason." God, you were tired. You motioned apologetically at him before looking down at a tug to your pants, your eyes meeting Cabriel's.
"Papa?" Wait. You had to blink a few times, before you registered Arthur's face looking up at you. Another tug at a lack of response, and you had to clear your throat.
"Ah, yes, Arthur?"
"Can we eat soon?" You blinked again, before smiling softly.
"Why don't you go inside? I'll get you some snacks, then start up dinner."
"Okay!" You chuckled as he pulled away, running over to get Kayden, who was persuaded the moment he heard the word 'snacks'.
"Here, Orpheus." You looked over as your mother moved to them, graceful as ever, offering arms to Elias, who moved into them eagerly.
"Ya really have a way with kids."
"Of course I do. I run a daycare." A pointed look at you, a smile at the older male. "I'll take the boys in for some snacks so you can unload your car, dear."
"That would be wonderful, Corinne." It was weird to hear your mother's name spoken so casually. You watched as she glided back inside, staring after her for a few moments before shaking your head, moving to kneel in the grass where they had been playing to pick up the plastic dinosaurs from where they were discarded. You hadn't expected the larger hand to beat you to the tyrannosaur your youngest had favored so much, and your head jerked upon instinct, meeting that friendly smile as he crouched next to you.
"It would seem ya know my name, but yer's has still escaped me." You blinked slowly, and you felt that heat returning to your cheeks.
"Ah..." That wasn't the proper use of your vocabulary. He raised a brow, his smile turning to a smirk before he offered his free hand to you, presumably to help you stand. You did reach out, let your hand hover over it. Then you changed its course, grabbing the rex from the hand he hadn't offered, clearly catching him off guard, as he looked at his now empty hand, then at the rex in yours. You leaned in close, but not too close. "It's Carmine." Then you stood, each toy carefully balanced in your arms. "Carmine Beckett." He was barely rising up as you turned to walk to your door. "The door is always unlocked until I turn in. You're welcome to walk in after you unpack whatever you picked up from the store."
"... Orpheus. Orpheus Abernathy." You tried to ignore the pounding of your heart as you managed to turn the nob, closing the door behind you without looking back.